WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS

CHICAGO ATTORNEYS FOR STAFFING COMPANY WORKERS

As a temporary worker in Illinois, you may not know where to turn in the event you are injured on the job. You may receive confusing information and feel you have no recourse. You should be aware that you’re entitled to obtain workers’ compensation benefits from the staffing company that employs you, rather than the company to which you were lent. In most cases, this is written into an agreement with the staffing agency. If you are worried about getting workers’ compensation benefits as an employee of a staffing company, you should call the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We’ve fought for full and fair compensation for temporary workers for more than sixty years. Several of our lawyers have been selected to Super Lawyers and received other honors.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR STAFFING WORKERS IN CHICAGO

As a temp, you will not receive all the same benefits that regular employees of a Chicago company enjoy. However, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if you are injured on the job. As a temp, you may be performing light duty work that involves repetitive motions. You may be exposed to Covid-19. Or you may need to perform heavy manual labor, such as construction. You may be told that you are not eligible for workers’ compensation because you came to the worksite through a staffing agency. However, the staffing agency is supposed to procure workers’ compensation insurance for you, since you are their employee, even though you are being lent out. As a temporary worker, you are more likely than a permanent employee to be injured on the job and more likely to contract an occupational illness.

Workers’ compensation in Illinois is a no-fault system. You will not need to prove that either the staffing agency or the company that gives you work is to blame for your injuries. Rather, you are entitled to benefits so long as your injuries or illness are related to your job. Like other workers, when you are injured on the job, you are eligible for benefits such as medical benefits, disability benefits, and vocational rehabilitation benefits.

MEDICAL BENEFITS

You are entitled to reasonable and necessary medical care for your job-related injuries and illnesses. The staffing company that employs you should pay for this care including the costs of:

• Emergency care,
• First aid,
• Doctors’ visits,
• Medication,
• Medical equipment or prosthesis,
• Surgery,
• Rehabilitation,
• Physical therapy.

DISABILITY BENEFITS

Many temporary workers are disabled by job-related injuries and illnesses. For example, if you are exposed to Covid-19 at the office or worksite, you may find yourself unable to come to work for several weeks, or even longer, and you may be eligible for temporary total disability benefits, to be paid by the staffing company’s insurer.

After the first three days of work missed due to work-related injuries, you should receive temporary total disability benefits. However, you will not receive pay for those first three days unless you cannot work for 14 days or more. These benefits are paid at 2/3 of your average weekly wage. However, you can’t assume that the staffing company’s insurer will calculate your average weekly wage, which forms the basis of benefits, accurately. The calculation could be challenging if you worked for multiple different companies over the course of the past year, and your wage was different for each job. When you are no longer able to work due to a job-related injury or illness, our attorneys may be able to seek permanent disability benefits on your behalf.

HIRE A CHICAGO STAFFING COMPANY CLAIMS LAW FIRM

Many different industries, from construction companies to white collar firms, engage the services of temps provided by staffing agencies. What these Chicago temporary workers share, unfortunately, is that they are injured with higher frequency than permanent workers. Because you work out of sight of the staffing agency that employs you, you may face particular resistance from an insurance company when seeking the benefits, you need. You should retain knowledgeable lawyers with experience handling the workers’ compensation claims of temporary workers. We represent temporary workers in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.